Huawei CFO arrested in Canada for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran: report

FILE PHOTO: Journalists follow the presentation of a Huawei smartphone ahead of the IFA Electronics show in Berlin, Germany, September 2, 2015. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver, where she is facing extradition to the United States on suspicion she violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Meng Wanzhou, who is one of the vice chairs on the Chinese technology company’s board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on Dec. 1 and a court hearing has been set for Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said, according to the Globe and Mail.

Representatives of Huawei, one of the world’s largest makers of telecommunications network equipment, could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

Officials for the Canadian and U.S. Justice Departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. authorities have been probing Huawei since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, sources told Reuters in April.

(This story was refiled to fix typo in last paragraph)

Reporting by Makini Brice; Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Vancouver and Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Sonya Hepinstall